NEWS

Prime Minister Borut Pahor meets Austrian Federal President Heinz Fischer

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, today held a meeting with the Federal President of the Republic of Austria, Dr Heinz Fischer, who is currently on an official visit to the Republic of Slovenia. Prime Minister Pahor and President Fischer agreed that bilateral relations between Slovenia and Austria were excellent and that the two countries had developed an intense and highly diversified level of economic cooperation.

   

During their talks, they touched on the issues of bilingual topography and energy security. Dr Fischer said that he hoped that negotiations on bilingual topography in Austrian Carinthia would be concluded shortly. Prime Minister Pahor said that he was pleased with the talks, stressing that Slovenia supports solutions that will be acceptable to all three umbrella organisations representing the Slovenian minority in Austrian Carinthia. He added that he hoped that all the sides involved would come to an understanding and reach an appropriate agreement on bilingual topography and other issues. Their talks with regard to energy security focused mainly on nuclear energy security in light of the recent developments in Japan. Prime Minister Pahor and President Fischer agreed that countries have a sovereign right to make decisions regarding energy policy, adding that the production of nuclear energy requires the highest possible level of security. The operation of nuclear power plants should be supervised on a continuous basis, and their security systems should be constantly improved to prevent any further accidents from occurring in the future.

   

At the conclusion of the talks, they also touched on the situation in the Western Balkans, sharing the view that the enlargement process is of vital importance for the continued stability and progress of the entire region.